Mum's DNA Battle To Prove Killed Soldier Did Father Her Baby

A mum has won her battle to get the MOD to release her dead fiancé's DNA, so she can prove he is the father of her five-month-old baby daughter.

Emma Hickman, 19, could not officially name Daniel Wade - who was killed in Afghanistan three month's before his daughter's birth - as the father of Lexie-Mai.

Private Wade, of 3rd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, was killed along with five comrades by a roadside Taliban bomb attack in March.

Emma had to fight for the Ministry of Defence to provide a sample of Daniel's DNA so she could prove he was Lexie-Mai's dad and name him on her birth certificate.

The sample was subsequently released proving Daniel IS the baby's dad, and making Emma eligible for compensation for his death.

Emma told reporters that it was not about the money but 'Lexie-Mai's right to know who her father is'.

"Dan was so looking forward to being a daddy," she said. "He used to carry her scan picture with him under his body armour when he went out on patrol. He helped me choose her name and was so proud he was going to be a father."

Emma's soliciter Jennifer Roulston said it was 'appalling' that the young mum should have had to have endured the legal wrangle after the trauma at losing her fiancé just before the birth of her daughter.

MP, David Mowat backed Emma's legal battle and said the MoD should always hold DNA of troops sent to war zones to prevent a repeat situation. He told the Commons that ministers should consider 'asking the Army to routinely hold DNA samples for those on active duty, in the same way they do in France and America'.

Defence minister Mark Francois said it was 'current MoD policy to offer all military, deployable MoD civilians and other entitled personnel the opportunity to provide reference samples suitable for DNA analysis'.

"This is entirely on a voluntary basis and it is to enable identification post-mortem should that be required. This policy is under review. I expect this to be complete by the spring," he added.